A Turkish password cracker for UNIX based operating systems

Abstract

UNIX and UNIX-based operating systems have been widely utilized in local area and wide area network systems that supply application and development chain of users through remote access as well as online connections. Although UNIX operating system has got powerful tools which have secure methods for user authentication, user management and for password storage, weak password choices of the users affect the entire system security negatively. This study aims to crack the password hashes which are encrypted by DES using the method of dictionary attack. The developed application is introduced and compared with the previous utilities. Password encryption, password storage, and the structure which was developed against a possible dictionary attack of UNIX are examined. The good password choosing method for the users and the system administrator are given.